Recreation Information Database Python API Docs | dltHub

The Recreation Information Database API provides access to information about campgrounds, trails, facilities, and other recreational areas. The REST API base URL is https://ridb.recreation.gov/api/v1 and All requests require an API key for authentication..

dlt is an open-source Python library that handles authentication, pagination, and schema evolution automatically. dlthub provides AI context files that enable code assistants to generate production-ready pipelines. Install with uv pip install "dlt[workspace]" and start loading Recreation Information Database data in under 10 minutes.

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What data can I load from Recreation Information Database?

Here are some of the endpoints you can load from Recreation Information Database:

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How do I authenticate with the Recreation Information Database API?

Authentication is required for all requests and uses an API key, which should be supplied as a header.

1. Get your credentials

Please refer to the official Recreation Information Database API documentation or their developer portal for instructions on how to obtain an API key. Typically, this involves signing up for an account and generating a key from a dashboard.

2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml

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[sources.recreation_info_db_source]
api_key = "your_api_key_here"

dlt reads this automatically at runtime — never hardcode tokens in your pipeline script. For production environments, see setting up credentials with dlt for environment variable and vault-based options.

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How do I set up and run the pipeline?

Set up a virtual environment and install dlt:

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uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install "dlt[workspace]"

1. Install the dlt AI Workbench:

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dlt ai init --agent <your-agent> # <agent>: claude | cursor | codex

This installs project rules, a secrets management skill, appropriate ignore files, and configures the dlt MCP server for your agent. Learn more →

2. Install the rest-api-pipeline toolkit:

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dlt ai toolkit rest-api-pipeline install

This loads the skills and context about dlt the agent uses to build the pipeline iteratively, efficiently, and safely. The agent uses MCP tools to inspect credentials — it never needs to read your secrets.toml directly. Learn more →

3. Start LLM-assisted coding:

Use /find-source to load data from the Recreation Information Database API into DuckDB.

The rest-api-pipeline toolkit takes over from here — it reads relevant API documentation, presents you with options for which endpoints to load, and follows a structured workflow to scaffold, debug, and validate the pipeline step by step.

4. Run the pipeline:

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python recreation_info_db_pipeline.py

If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:

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Pipeline recreation_info_db_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds
1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset recreation_info_db_data
The duckdb destination used duckdb:/recreation_info_db.duckdb location to store data
Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs

Inspect your pipeline and data:

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dlt pipeline recreation_info_db_pipeline show

This opens the Pipeline Dashboard where you can verify pipeline state, load metrics, schema (tables, columns, types), and query the loaded data directly.

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Python pipeline example

This example loads activities and facilities from the Recreation Information Database API into DuckDB. It mirrors the endpoint and data selector configuration from the table above:

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import dlt
from dlt.sources.rest_api import RESTAPIConfig, rest_api_resources

@dlt.source
def recreation_info_db_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value):
    config: RESTAPIConfig = {
        "client": {
            "base_url": "https://ridb.recreation.gov/api/v1",
            "auth": {
                "type": "api_key",
                "api_key": api_key,
            },
        },
        "resources": [
            {"name": "activities", "endpoint": {"path": "activities"}},
            {"name": "facilities", "endpoint": {"path": "facilities"}}
        ],
    }
    yield from rest_api_resources(config)


def get_data() -> None:
    pipeline = dlt.pipeline(
        pipeline_name="recreation_info_db_pipeline",
        destination="duckdb",
        dataset_name="recreation_info_db_data",
    )
    load_info = pipeline.run(recreation_info_db_source())
    print(load_info)

To add more endpoints, append entries from the resource table to the "resources" list using the same name, path, and data_selector pattern.

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How do I query the loaded data?

Once the pipeline runs, dlt creates one table per resource. You can query with Python or SQL.

Python (pandas DataFrame):

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import dlt

data = dlt.pipeline("recreation_info_db_pipeline").dataset()
sessions_df = data.activities.df()
print(sessions_df.head())

SQL (DuckDB example):

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SELECT * FROM recreation_info_db_data.activities LIMIT 10;

In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:

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import dlt

data = dlt.pipeline("recreation_info_db_pipeline").dataset()
data.activities.df().head()

See how to explore your data in marimo Notebooks and how to query your data in Python with dataset.

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What destinations can I load Recreation Information Database data to?

dlt supports loading into any of these destinations — only the destination parameter changes:

Change the destination in dlt.pipeline(destination="snowflake") and add credentials in .dlt/secrets.toml. See the full destinations list.

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Troubleshooting

Common API Errors

While specific error codes and troubleshooting steps are not detailed in the provided documentation, common API errors typically include:

• Authentication Failures: Ensure your API key is correctly provided in the request headers. Incorrect or missing API keys will result in unauthorized access errors.
• Rate Limiting: APIs often impose limits on the number of requests a user can make within a certain timeframe. Exceeding these limits will result in rate limit errors. Check the API documentation for specific rate limit policies and consider implementing exponential backoff for retries.
• Invalid Parameters: Requests with incorrect or missing parameters will lead to errors. Always refer to the endpoint documentation for required and optional parameters and their valid formats.
• Server Errors: Occasional issues on the API provider's side can lead to server errors (e.g., 5xx status codes). These are usually temporary and can often be resolved by retrying the request after a short delay.

Ensure that the API key is valid to avoid 401 Unauthorized errors. Also, verify endpoint paths and parameters to avoid 404 Not Found errors.

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Next steps

Continue your data engineering journey with the other toolkits of the dltHub AI Workbench:

• data-exploration — Build custom notebooks, charts, and dashboards for deeper analysis with marimo notebooks.
• dlthub-runtime — Deploy, schedule, and monitor your pipeline in production.

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dlt ai toolkit data-exploration install
dlt ai toolkit dlthub-runtime install

• How to deploy a pipeline
• How to explore your data in marimo Notebooks
• How to query your data in Python with dataset
• Join the dlt community on Slack